


Growing Up - Part ??

by peacehopeandrats



Series: Growing Up [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 14:25:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17868962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peacehopeandrats/pseuds/peacehopeandrats
Summary: This is a severe jump ahead in the story line that I have in planned out for the Golds. I only have it posted here now because this is a response to a writing prompt at the Writer's Block. The rest of the story will fall into place... eventually.Regina finds herself in a week filled with mild frustrations and petty disputes which, combined with Gideon's recent return to Storybrooke, have caused her to miss Robin more than usual, but when an unexpected encounter leads her to follow a recently forgotten ritual, she realizes that she still has a purpose and the town's need for her is greater than she could have anticipated.





	Growing Up - Part ??

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a VERY distant chapter of Growing Up, where Gideon has returned to Storybrooke, as his father had hoped he would, and is running the store with Alice's help. (The two have adopted each other as siblings.) As mentioned below, Regina has had a difficult week with various frustrations and because of Gideon's return, she finds herself thinking back to her conversations with Rumple about villains who become heroes and the transition making her feel useless. There isn't anyone to plot against any more, no big fights to win, that sort of thing. If I say any more I give away too much, so here you go...
> 
> This was written for the Writer's Block challenge, where you are given the first line and fill in the rest with whatever you wish. The November prompt was "_______ stared at the log that was skewered on the metal fence post like a marshmallow on a stick."  
> The page with the prompt can be found [here](https://writersblock378601501.wordpress.com/2018/11/25/november-prompt/)

Regina stared at the log that was skewered on the metal fence post like a marshmallow on a stick. The dwarfs had come over after the storm and easily removed the rest of the tree that had fallen, but this stubborn lump of wood had found a way to make certain it would keep its vantage point for years to come. She glared at it angrily, arms folded across her chest, eyes slits that would slice the offending branch away with the sharpness of their gaze, if only they had that power.

It was the final straw in a week filled with final straws. No one thing was at all overwhelming, but piled together, the collection of random minor incidents that she had been forced to deal with had made her face this particular morning with a hesitation that screamed out, “What else can possibly go wrong this week?” Normally her “bring it on” attitude kicked all other feelings to the curb, but not after a week's worth of petty disputes and whiny debates between neighbors.

Once more she tried in vain to tug the piece of wood free, eyes shut tight with the strain of her effort, but it was no use and she grunted with frustration. “You're _determined_  to make my life miserable, aren't you?” She followed the words with an angry shove against the freshly cut branch, which meant more to her stinging palm than the silent log.

A warm chuckle answered her from behind. She knew that sound better than any other and swallowed hard against the pain it brought to her heart. “You can't just pull it, you know.” The gentle whisper moved closer until it was right behind her left ear. “That post is like an arrow, shot straight through.” One hand rested gently over her own, then guided her fingers along the rough bark, to the sharp metal point of the fence post. “See...”

Reveling in the feeling of this hand on hers, Regina kept her eyes closed and let her fingers be guided along the point of the post, down the semi-sharp edge, to where the triangle had passed cleanly through the wood, then along the edge where the metal pressed against the bark. When a second hand ran down her back to rest on her hip, she forgot all about the fence and moistened her lips before murmuring,“Robin...” Her voice like a wish and a hope and a plea all wrapped into one light breath.

“Hm...” Robin's chest rumbled against her back and she melted into the vibration before turning around to gaze into the eyes that sparkled playfully back at her. “Now why exactly are you arguing with this most excellent example of firewood?”

Regina pondered her predicament for a moment, then shook her head. “I don't know...” She thought about the storm, about the complaints that had flooded her office once the tree had fallen across the road, and then suddenly found herself wondering why she hadn't just magicked the whole thing away with the flick of her wrist. “None of this day makes any sense,” she told him, then felt a weight on her chest as she realized aloud, “You being here doesn't make any sense...”

“...Unless you're asleep,” Robin finished for her, pulling her so close that she could feel every inch of his body pressed to hers. His hands fell down below her back and held tightly, just as they always had when he was alive, and Regina closed her eyes again to fight back the thick sadness that filled her chest.

“No,” she insisted as her fingers grasped desperately onto him, clinging to cloth and pressing to flesh as if he were her only lifeline. “I'm not going to wake up.”

“You're the Good Queen,” he said softly into her hair. “I _think_  your loyal subjects might start a riot if I kept you to myself.”

Regina looked up at him, his form blurred by the moisture that filled her eyes. She wanted to ask him how he had known and what he had seen, but the words became lost in her desire to hold him, to slip away with him and be lost to the world. She felt the cloud of sleep start to lift from her and heard a whimper escape her throat, though she fought hard to hold it in.

“I'm not ready,” she whispered. “Please stay.”

“I can't,” Robin answered, an odd sense of logic about him that felt as if it also held a sadness somewhere deep within.“I came because I needed you to know that I see you... that I'm _with_  you.” His hand gently fell to her chest and rested there, making her sigh. “You remember when I told you that?”

“Yes, but-”

Robin's eyes widened and a sound of scolding caught in his throat that silenced her. His gaze shifted downward and he let his fingers play with the skin of her wrist, his eyes following their continued movement as he spoke. “Since Gideon's return, you have been questioning if you and I could be together again, perhaps not knowingly, but somewhere inside of you, the question is there.” He looked up then, a warm smile on his face. “It's a question we all ask ourselves when we lose someone close to us, but you haven't seen how it has settled a cloud over you in the last few days. You're drifting and I couldn't bear to see you lost.”

Regina tenderly tilted her head up so that her lips met his and kissed him, melting away and drinking him in all at once. Every part of her cried out with the familiar need to be with him, willing time to stop and leave them as one couple in a dissolving world.

When they parted, Robin gave Regina a loving smile. He lifted her palm to where he could examine the place that had not long before been used as a weapon against wood. He raised his eyebrows, silently reminding her of the week's frustrations and her unusual actions against them, then kissed the tender flesh as if kissing away the pain of a scrape that wasn't there. “I promise I'll be back.” His smile broadened as he added, “Perhaps at a time when things aren't as crazy and you can sleep in for an hour or two...” His voice danced with suggestions of what was to come and made Regina smile.

“I'll be waiting,” she told him.

He shook his head at her. “Don't wait, don't search for me. I want you to live, to be Henry's new mother, and the mayor of the town, and the Good Queen of all the realms. You might not have monsters at your doorstep and the battles may be won, but the people here still need someone to guide them... and when you least expect it, or when you most need it, I will come to surprise you.”

Though her heart sank at the thought of more time apart, the feeling of anticipation brought a fire to her that she hadn't realized she had lost. Her heart skipped and her eyes brightened as she kissed him again. “Then I look forward to whatever you have planned,” she said before looking around at the fog of reality settling in on them. “Will you hold me until I wake up?”

Robin nodded, pulling her tightly against his chest. “Always,” he told her.

Regina burrowed into him, eyes closed against the inevitable. At first she could feel the shift of each muscle, but after a few breaths, she could tell that the movement was changing. In time the soft sway of his body became the still form of a mattress and she opened her eyes to the dark of night. Resisting the urge to mutter curses against this all too familiar scenario, she rose, dressed, and wandered out into the evening.

* * *

At first Regina had started walking simply because she wanted to feel the breeze on her face, but after a while, her randomly chosen path had brought her through the center of town and she realized she had followed an all too familiar evening tradition, one she had been forced to give up years ago.

The light in Gold's pawnshop pushed against the night while all other shops slumbered, pools of yellow falling on the sidewalk at her feet as she passed. How many nights had she spent here, chatting away hour's worth of insomnia, trading stories of parenthood and sharing the woes of being a converted villain that only two such people could understand? She and Rumple hadn't exactly been the best of friends, but they had a relationship based on a mutual understanding of each others pains and sorrows, and that had been what brought them to each other on nights just like this one.

Before she realized what she had done, Regina's hand had wrapped around the cold knob and turned it to open. In a daze of remembrance, she pushed at the door, only to be startled into reality by the familiar bell that chimed overhead. Her eyes snapped wide and lifted to meet the shop's new owner, who greeted her with a kind gaze and a warm smile.

“Your Majesty,” Gideon said with a slight, yet formal bow, “Can I help you with something?”

Regina blinked and shook her head.”No, I-” She stopped when she saw concern cross Gideon's face and realized she was simply hovering in the entry, still holding the door open as if lost. With a smile to ease his worry, she came inside, closing the door behind her. “I couldn't sleep,” she explained as she crossed the room. “I guess I ended up here because old habits die hard.”

Gideon's grin returned. “Of course,” he answered in a way that told her he understood and accepted everything without explanation. “Papa would be awake at any hour...” His head tilted ever so slightly as his eyes examined hers, the faint touch of his mother coming through. “It's Robin Hood, isn't it?”

“Robin. I.... How did you know?” Despite herself, Regina felt her lips pulling upward and a crinkle of surprise coming to her eyes.

“Papa had the same look when he thought about my mother... after she was gone...” Gideon's mouth twitched and his eyes turned down to the books he had scattered around on the counter, open to various pages. He closed the one he had been writing in, deliberately putting down his pen and setting his hands on the cover, this time the mirror image of his father. “Can I do anything for you?”

Regina thought for a moment, wondering if there were any one thing that she had really sought out in her wanderings. “Conversation?” She shrugged, unsure if that was really what brought her to Gold's shop so many times in the past years, or if it was simply distraction she was after. She glanced down at the encyclopedic collection before her and tipped her head at it. “Are you working on-?”

“What he's doing isn't any of your business.” Alice cut in, appearing suddenly from the back room, a stack of books and small boxes in her arms. When she realized who she had just spoken to, she practically tossed the load onto the nearest available space and gave a deep curtsy. “I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I thought you were... someone else.”

Looking from Alice to Gideon, Regina frowned. “Has someone been bothering the two of you?”

Alice tried to answer, but Gideon got his words out first. “I... It's really nothing,” he insisted, anticipating an argument from his adopted sister and holding up a hand as if to placate the young woman, which didn't work in the slightest.

“'Nothing,'” Alice snorted in disgust at his choice of words. “Your Papa was a _hero_  and _you_  aren't the man some of the people here seem think you are. You shouldn't have to listen to any of the things that get said in this room.”

As Alice spoke, Gideon began stacking the books he had been studying with the determination of someone who desperately needed something to do. Once she finished, he stopped and looked up at her. “Papa didn't want me to know anything about the time that I spent here with my grandmother, but I _am_  aware that I had a history here and that it probably wasn't a pleasant one. I knew that my return might cause some unease,” he said softly. “I chose to come anyway. Whatever I feel and whatever I experience here is a product of that choice.”

Regina found herself looking from one to the other like a spectator at a tennis match. It was no struggle at all to imagine what was being said by a scattered few about Gideon or his father, but the two made it sound as if people from all over town were lining up outside just for a chance to take a jab at the family.

“You think I don't know?” Alice reached out and snatched a small white cloth from Gideon's pocket. He managed a halfhearted attempt to grab at it, but she pulled away and waved it in front of him. “The tears that stain this are here because of what gets said about your mother and father.” With a frown, she pushed the handkerchief into Gideon's hand and huffed “nothing” once more while staring him down.

“Wait.” Regina blinked to try and sort out what she had actually heard from what she thought she had heard. “People are talking about _Belle_?” She shook her head in disbelief. “I don't mean that you or your father deserve the treatment you seem to be getting, but Gideon... your mother _never_  hurt anyone.”

Gideon took in a long breath. “She was the willing servant of the Dark One,” he said sadly in a voice that indicated he was probably quoting someone. “And some realms are less accepting of that role than others.”

“No,” Regina announced as she pulled her spine straight, taking herself to her full height and pressing a finger down on the counter as if pointing out all that was wrong with Gideon's situation in a single gesture. “I won't tolerate prejudice in this town. Everyone is here for a fresh start and they need to allow you to have yours as well. Let me do something to make this right.”

Triumphantly Alice folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrows. “I told you.”

Shaking his head, Gideon let out a long breath. “I appreciate your words, but-”

“No buts.” Regina announced in a tone that turned her statement into a royal decree. “Your parents deserve better than this. _You_  deserve better than this.” She reached out and grasped Gideon's hand, squeezing it tightly.

Gideon gave a weak smile, but his eyes moistened, showing the relief that he otherwise held back. “Thank you,” he whispered as Alice reached an arm out to draw him to her side and gave an affectionate squeeze. He happily leaned closer and returned the gesture before glancing at a nearby clock. “Your wife is going to wonder what I've done with you.”

Alice waved him off. “As soon as I explain everything she'll be glad I stayed.” She released him and headed to the back room, still talking, though she now raised her voice to compensate for the wall between them. “Don't stay here too late.”

Gideon smiled. “I won't.”

“You aren't your Papa. You need sleep,” Alice insisted.

Regina tried not to chuckle as the conversation went on around her, but her heart was made so light by the banter that she couldn't help herself. Gideon, obviously not offended by her reaction, shot her a playful look, rolling his eyes to the back room. Aloud, he called out, “I know,” to Alice, raising his eyebrows as he waited for her reply.

“I should go,” Regina mouthed quietly.

A frown crossed Gideon's face and he shook his head adamantly in response. “She's stalling. She can't find her coat,” he whispered with a nod to the back room that dared the truth to be otherwise. “Stay for tea. Please. I feel it is what my father would have done.”

“It is...” Regina told him, feeling the warmth of a lost friendship return to her, even if it was a generation removed.

A series of bumps and rustles interrupted them, followed by a thud and a grunt. From the back, Alice continued her chatter through it all, completely unaware that she was interrupting anything beyond her quest. “If you get out anything else to study, I'll know it,” she insisted with frustration.

“Your coat is on the chair,” Gideon called back, ignoring her threat.

Alice appeared a split second later, bursting from the back room, coat in hand. “I'll hide everything again tomorrow morning if I see you've had it out tonight.” She scowled at him as she put on her coat, eyes quickly scanning his work area as if taking inventory.

Gideon held up the book he had been writing in, casually offering it to her. “Would you like to take this so you can be certain that I stop working?”

“No,” Alice answered with an offended huff, though her hand seemed to hover away from her side in a way that made her temptation obvious. “I trust you.”

Raising an eyebrow, Gideon shot a dubious expression her way. After a moment of silence between them, he allowed a thoughtful humph as a response before returning the book to it's original place on the counter.

Without warning, Alice pounced on him, leaping onto him piggyback-style, arms wrapped tightly around his neck, legs clinging clumsily around his waist. “Awh,” she said with a kiss to his cheek. “You know you love me...”

Gideon laughed and covered her arms tightly with his own, shifting her to a safer position, while managing to give her a brotherly hug at the same time. “Never said I didn't.”

With a giggle Alice dropped easily to the ground and crossed the room. “Goodnight, big brother that I never had.”

“Goodnight little sister who takes care of me,” Gideon called after her.

Alice turned and gave him a huge grin, curtsied her farewell to Regina, then departed. From the other side of the counter, Gideon visibly sagged as the last jingle faded from the door's bell. It was clear that a weight was lifted from him whenever Alice was around and that when she left, it settled over him like a dense fog. His mouth twitched in a smile for Regina, but his eyes had lost their sparkle. “So,” he said quietly, in a voice filled with distractions. “Tea...”

 _“...you haven't seen how it has settled a cloud over you in the last few days...”_  Dream Robin's words resurfaced in Regina's mind, pushing at her with a feather-light touch. Was this what he had seen happening to her? She was keeping herself busy, but was it at the cost of her happiness?

Hoping she could lift Gideon's spirits again, Regina glanced around at the counter and teased. “She just leaves you to put all of this away?”

Halfway to the back room, Gideon turned and shrugged. “I can't put it away. If I don't leave everything where it is, Alice will think I spent all night with my nose in these books.” As he spoke, he gestured to the back and stepped aside, indicating he would follow her in. “Then she will hide everything tomorrow in order to 'teach me a lesson.'”

The two shared a chuckle as Regina passed through to the work room, or what had once been a work room, for it looked nothing like her memories of what was behind the curtain. The daybed remained, and Rumple's wall shelving, filled with... well, whatever he filled shelves with... but the usual clutter that had been a part of his life here was gone. There was even a sitting area in one corner, under the window, made welcoming by an area rug, two comfortable looking chairs, and a small round table situated between them.

Regina's eyes went wide. “You've been busy.”

Gideon glanced at her with a frown of confusion until she gestured at the chairs. “Ah,” he said as if he only half understood. “This was how I found everything. Except for the bassinet. I gave that to Emma. I'm a bit big for it now, I think.” He gave her a winning smile and set about making the tea from an electric pot hidden away in the back corner.

“I guess it's been a while since I was back here,” Regina mumbled more to herself than to Gideon.

“Please don't let the changes bother you,” the man pleaded with a genuineness that made her heart dissolve from its warmth. “My Papa spoke of this room as his haven. I heard many stories of how my mother and I spent time here while he worked on repairs for people who needed them. The front of the shop was what everyone expected to see of him, but this room was for us.”

Regina nodded and took a seat as Gideon made up the tea. “I never really knew what it was like to be around him when he wasn't...” She searched her mind for a word that wouldn't sound inappropriate, but Gideon beat her to it.

“Tormented,” he said simply as he brought over one cup for each of them. “My mother once explained to me what life was like for my Papa. I think that if people could have understood the battle between Broken Savior and Dark One from the beginning, his relationship with others might have been different.”

As Regina listened, she took a sip of tea, the one swallow sending her mind spinning backward to the nights she had walked to the shop in hopes of a sleeping potion, but had found companionship instead. Not surprisingly, Gideon had made the drink exactly as his father used to, down to the perfect amount of sweetness that almost, but not quite, covered the hint of a bitter aftertaste. Her eyelids fluttered closed and she sighed deeply, then felt her curiosity stir. In all of their conversations in this shop, Rumple had not once discussed this internal battle with her. She opened her eyes and gazed quizzically at Gideon. “How did Belle explain it? If you don't mind my asking.”

“Not at all,” Gideon insisted, then began a tale of his childhood. He talked of meeting a girl his age who believed all shouts from a bedroom were shouts of terror because that was the life she had known. He spoke of charging in to his parents room that night and lashing out at Rumplestiltskin, trying to be the hero and save his mother from a torment she very clearly _wasn't_  experiencing. Then he explained Rumplestiltskin to her exactly as his mother had that evening, in a way Regina had never thought of before. She found herself living the man's struggles, the curse pushing against a fate that no one had known had been stolen from him.

By the time the story had come to a close, Regina felt as if she had just survived the most arduous battle of her lifetime. Her body seemed spent of all energy and she was surprised to feel a tear fall down her cheek. “You're right,” she whispered. “I had no idea...”

“I don't think even he understood, until after my Grandmother was gone and everything she had done came to light.” Gideon gave a weak smile and silently gestured at Regina's cup, offering a refill.

Shaking her head, she leaned forward and took his hand. “Gideon, if I called everyone for a memorial to honor your parents, would you tell that story again?”

The man hesitated, clearly uncertain of how he felt on the matter. “I'm not sure that is entirely necessary...”

“I want people to understand _why_  your father deserves to be called a hero,” she insisted, giving his hand a squeeze before releasing it. “You and your parents are owed that and much, much more for what your family has done for all of us over the years.”

The corner of Gideon's mouth twitched and he blinked back the moisture that had gathered in his eyes. “If that is your wish,” he agreed, adding a softer whisper of gratitude that she could barely hear.

“So long as you don't have to give everyone that magical memory tea of yours to-”

“I don't use magic,” Gideon insisted quickly, his tone sharp in his own defense, his eagerness to protect himself evident in his sudden stiffness as well as his tone. “I know that many here believe that I can, but I do not, nor will I _ever_  use magic in any form.”

Regina blinked at him in shock. “But... those books... I recognized some of them... That's some powerful magic you are researching...”

Clearly debating what he should tell his Queen, Gideon's mouth opened and closed before he settled on his answer. “I _study_  magic,” he explained, emphasizing his words with an intensity she had not heard from the man since his first days in Storybrooke. “I went to the Academy to learn about dark and light magics, but one can _learn_  about them without _using_  them.”

He did have a point there, and that realization settled on Regina like a heavy stone. “I'm sorry,” she said honestly, lifting her hands slightly in a placating gesture. “It was wrong of me to assume-”

“The assumption is understandable,” Gideon interrupted as he glanced down at his hands. “I may not remember my past, but I can see what others think of me.” Taking a long breath, his eyes met hers and he made his confession. “What I am doing, is for people like you and my father... I have every intention of enlisting the help of my Fairy Godmother once I have completed my research and am certain that what I hope to accomplish _is_  something that can be done. I will do nothing without her approval. I know of my grandmother's wrongs. I am not making a new spell, nor will I work the magic myself.” Gideon's mouth pulled tightly into an expression of desperation, the feeling reflected sharply in his eyes. “Can you accept my word on that?”

Unable to resist, Regina reached out to grasp his arm, holding it firmly. “Of course,” she told him, her tone carrying the weight of her remorse. “I heard your mother even taught Merlin a thing or two,” she added proudly. “And if she can do that, I can only imagine what you can do.”

Gideon blushed and looked out into the room, shrugging off the praise. “Study was simply what we did together. Some of my fondest memories were made in libraries; my mother reading as I dashed around to gather more books and Papa... Helping where he could.” The man chuckled as his eyes focused elsewhere, most likely on a memory from the past.

“Making the two of you do all the work?” Regina teased cautiously. “Sounds like Rumple.”

“No,” Gideon explained with a fond expression. “Mother simply had more knowledge of ancient languages. Papa would find what he could, then he would have to let us do the rest. He was also very easily... distracted by Mother.”

Now it was Regina's turn to flush. “Ah,” she said quickly, leaning back and wishing she could dissolve into the chair. “I see...” Her mind wandered involuntarily to her dream of Robin and his seeming unwillingness to remain at her side whenever he could. Now that she knew of Gideon's fondness for research, she couldn't help but wonder if he could answer her questions. “Have you seen them? In dreams, I mean.”

“Papa and my mother?” Gideon let out a light, bubbly laugh that filled the room and seemed to light up the area around them. “Thankfully, no.”

Regina blinked. “But I would have thought-”

“My parents loved each other very much,” Gideon told her. “And _frequently_. I can only imagine what their reunion has been like, wherever they are. I am more than willing to wait until they have... settled into their new existence together... before I hear from them.”

“But you believe that you can?”

“Of course. When the time is right for them.” Gideon shifted in his chair to face her properly. “Alice has always said that wherever they are must be a place without the weight of life, the things we know pressing around them. Time moves differently in every realm as well. Who knows how long their hour is compared to mine?” His eyes scanned her face and saddened. “You came here because of Robin... Did you see him?”

Regina idly ran her thumb over the place where Robin's fingers had danced on her wrist. “I don't know,” she admitted as she gazed down at her hands. “We weren't ever joined by a sleeping curse, but... I _have_  had dreams about him.”

“Sleeping curses aren't what cause us to connect to those we have lost,” Gideon insisted in a voice so tender that Regina felt as if she had just been caressed by a cloud. Her eyes quickly lifted and took in the room, expecting to see Robin somewhere nearby, but finding only the empty air. “Emma has told me that she saw my brother.”

Shaking her head, Regina rejected that example. “We were traveling to the underworld, somewhere between the living and the dead. Of course she could see him.”

Gideon sat forward a little, a wave of pure curiosity coming over his face. “So, you believe that you shouldn't be able to see those we have lost?”

“No, I...” Regina's words trailed off as she tried to work out what she did believe. “I have seen Robin before.. and it felt _so_  real...”

“Then why not allow it to be?” Gideon sat back with a shrug and waited for an answer that Regina could not supply. Obviously aware of her struggle he offered up another question. “Would Robin want to see you happy?”

Regina blinked. “Of course,” she said a little too harshly, surprised by the question.

Holding up his hands in a combination of surrender and apology, Gideon nodded. “Does seeing him in your dreams make you happy? Does believing that the dreams are real bring joy to your heart?”

“Yes...” Again a whisper that was more of a prayer, a hope of the best kind of magic to be made real.

“Then you should never question it,” Gideon said with firm certainty. “Because real or not, you are getting a gift that Robin himself would give you if he could.”

Regina pondered this, remembering her stay in Wish Rumple's dungeon. “Before this... he gave me a feather,” she confessed, looking into her open palm as if she expected it to be there. “I opened my eyes and I was still holding it... How is that even possible?”

“I'm afraid I've neglected my tea time duties,” Gideon said as he stood and took the empty cups away. “Could you put some little cakes on that table, please?”

The request was made casually, in the most normal tone, and without thinking, Regina complied, making the treats appear with hardly a thought. She didn't realize she had even done it until she heard the man's light chuckle. She looked up at him and blinked. “What?”

Reaching down to pluck a newly arrived cake from a plate that had not existed only moments ago, Gideon placed it into her still open palm. Regina stared at it curiously until the simple ridiculousness of her doubts hit her. Unbidden, a tear rolled down her cheek as her acceptance of her meetings with Robin grew into something she knew she could not deny.

“If I learned anything from my parents,” Gideon said softly. “It is that love is a magic that can transcend anything.”

* *

Hours after she had entered, Regina said her goodbyes to Gideon and left the shop. She breathed in the fresh stillness of the evening and her eyes wandered up one side of the street and down another, compiling an image of the night that was one of the best memories she had made in quite some time. Just before the lights in the shop went dark, she caught sight of a single feather on the sidewalk, once surrounded in a warm glow and now lost to the shadows. The simple existence of it made her smile, her heart easily skipping over the doubts she had held before and settling on something that was pure truth.

“You were right,” she said to the Robin from her dream as she happily thrust her hands into her pockets and took a Queenly stance that she hadn't exuded on these streets in what felt like years. “I _am_  still needed around here.” She looked up at the road ahead of her and strode past the feather to begin her journey home. “You were wrong about one thing,” she murmured as she walked away. “There are still monsters to be vanquished, and I know _just_ how to do it.”


End file.
